Opening Arguments Profile picture
Jul 12 45 tweets 9 min read
This is the liveblog for today's #January6thCommittee Hearings.
1/ Nice to see Chairman Bennie Thompson set the stage: the election was OVER as of December 14. Almost all of the communications and activity postdates that point.
2/ Liz Cheney makes it clear that the correct pronunciation is S-ippolone. Will take that under advisement, Ms. Co-Chair.
3/ Cheney gives us some useful information: that Cipollone's testimony was helpful & that pro-Trump forces are retrenching from the evidence - trying to throw @DrJohnEastman under the bus as a lone crazy.
/4 We now hear for the first time in this process from @RepStephMurphy - first impression is that she is a polished, effective speaker & you gotta love anyone willing to use "in their warped view" to describe Trumpers.
/5 and now up is @RepRaskin, who absolutely knocked it out of the park as part of the Second Impeachment team of managers. He's meticulous and thorough. AND HE'S TALKING ABOUT NEW DOCUMENTS!
/6 Raskin is making a big promise here about the connection between Trump and the Proud Boys/Oath Keepers - as we've said on the show, this is currently the area that needs the most shoring up if you're going to charge Trump with 18 USC 2384 (seditious conspiracy)..
/7 ..2384 requires showing "force" - Raskin uses the language of Trump "deploying" a mob - that'll be the key thing to prove: did Trump "deploy" them or did they spontaneously form because of Trump's rhetoric? law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18…
/8 🚨KEY DISTINCTION - if you listen to OA & you're super mad (as you should be!) & you protest outside of Alito's house, you may have been "inspired" by us (& our rhetoric) but we didn't "deploy" you & we're not responsible for your actions.
/9 🚨Cipollone's testimony OUT OF THE BOX was that there was no fraud & that the President should concede the election. #AndrewWasRight
/10 I really, really, REALLY like this framing: the election was **OVER** as of Dec. 14th.
/11 Another new piece of information: that Mark Meadows also shared this view. I'll explain why this is crucial on the next OA - but this absolutely contradicts EVERY DOCUMENT we have with Meadows's name on it.
/12 Love this framing: not even the President can pretend like the Courts don't matter.
/13 this draft EO to "seize voting machines" is indeed a big deal - tied to unhinged lunatic Sidney Powell as the Special Counsel - Cipollone says "I don't think she should be appointed to anything"
/14 our best documentary evidence related to seizing voting machines comes from (likely) Ray Haynes at poarc.com that was too crazy for even @DrJohnEastman to endorse. A reminder we shared this with you in May! openargs.com/wp-content/upl…
/15 🚨🚨 This Hutchinson testimony is 🔥- "I believe [Meadows] goal was to keep Trump in office, when he **acknowledged** there wasn’t enough fraud to overturn the election, to search for loopholes that I connected up with @DrJohnEastman’s theories.”
/16 lol I genuinely think Sidney Powell is stupid enough to think that her testimony before the J6 Committee actually helps her. (Hershman's hilarious reply: "ALL the judges in the 60 cases you lost are corrupt? Even the ones we appointed?")
/17 we're also learning a lot more about Cassidy Hutchinson - that as of the 12/19 Giuliani-Flynn-Powell clown car meeting at the WH, she was *out* - "The west wing is UNHINGED," in what I imagine to be her best @MoString voice
/18 great explanation of timing - "shortly after the last participant left the Unhinged Meeting" was when Trump sent the "will be wild!" Tweet
/19 ALEX JONES SIGHTING! ATTN @knowledge_fight @gotobedjordan
/20 as I previewed for you an hour ago, we get the first piece of testimonial evidence connecting Trump to violence: an anonymous Twitter employee saying that in her professional opinion, this was "directly addressed" to "extremist groups" & anyone else would have been suspended
/21 "it felt as though a mob had been organized" - to be clear, we need more evidence than this.
/22 the corroboration of how Trump's tweet was received is evidence, but it's pretty equivocal at this point unless you can show this is what Trump *intended*. I think there are two ways you could do this: a) connect PB/OK leadership to Trump (via Roger Stone? Giuliani?) or..
/23 ..b) show prior history of Trump tweets leading to PB /OK violence (if there is such prior history). We end with a dozen later Trump tweets exhorting them to "be there" on 1/6 but no proof Trump saw any of the extremist stuff.
/24 and now we're at the halfway point, recess
/25 we resume with connecting the dots between PB/OK & the White House - here the second link is another expert witness - DHS official showing coordination
/26 Meggs and Tarrio await trial in December
/27 and the third tranche of evidence drops - photos showing PB/OK members including Stewart Rhodes and Trump's 12/19 "Unhinged Meeting" guest Michael Flynn & Trump inner circle loyalist Roger Stone
/28 lol I *think* that dweeb in the OK video that @RepRaskin hilariously described as the "co-host of InfoWars" is Owen Shroyer -- more on this doofus here openargs.com/oa521-knowledg…
/29 parenthetically, I would say that there is NO CHANCE Jamie Raskin said that by accident - he *has* to know that it will drive Alex Jones bonkers & maybe get him to accidentally say something even more incriminatory.
/30 last piece of evidence offered by Raskin - testimony from attorney Kellye SoRelle that the J6 rallies were organized by ROGER STONE, ALEX JONES, and ALI ALEXANDER. We previously knew the last 2 - did not have great confirmation on the direct connection to Stone. Now we do.
/31 🚨OOOOOOOOOOOH the link is Meadows
/32 🚨🚨 And there it is: Kylie Kremer's text to Mike Lindell ("Trump will order us to the Capitol "unexpectedly") + Ali Alexander's J5 text ("Trump is supposed to order us to the capitol") -- DIRECTLY REFUTES that this was all some crazy coincidence but directed by Trump
/33 if you're asking whether it gives us a tiny bit of pleasure that @RepStephMurphy is also having a little difficulty with Pat Cipollone's name, all we can say is FIFTH
/34 now connected up with Bannon on 1/5 saying "strap in" after talking to Trump twice. This is GOOD evidence. Not great. Not unimpeachable, but definitely enough to indict.
/35 next piece of evidence - Trump was in a "fantastic mood" for the first time in weeks on the evening of 1/5 hearing crowd rallies - again, it's part of the background picture
/36 you may recall that the "1776" argument, STANDING ALONE, was the losing argument in the MTG sedition hearing as to whether she was eligible under the 14th amendment as an insurrectionist. So that's what I mean when we say we need more & we got some today
/37 I don't really know how to weigh the Ivanka stuff.
/38 showing the ad-libbed changes to Trump's 1/6 speech I do think helps connect it to the planning
/39 the Parscale stuff is pretty moving - "I regret helping him win [in 2016] - his rhetoric got a woman killed."
/40 I actually think it was pretty smart for Van Tatenhove to show up dressed as an Oath Keeper (and not to testify to Congress)
/41 This Ayres stuff could be *really* dangerous for the J6 Committee - this is the first real risk they've taken IMO
/42 yeah, I don't know what to make of the last part of this hearing. Was this moving to people? I don't see that it has any kind of legal significance.
/43 So Cipollone's testimony went so well that they've already teed him up as a public witness for the next hearing. That's, uh, an #AndrewWasRight :)
/44 🚨🚨🚨 HOLY SHIT Trump tried to call a J6 witness??!??! 🚨🚨🚨 - Yes that's a crime

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More from @openargs

Jun 9
This is the official live-tweeting thread for the J6 hearings. A reminder that we've done 3 shows that are important background for what we knew BEFORE tonight:
574 - openargs.com/oa574-1-6-comm…
576 (w/@lessig) - openargs.com/oa576-election…
and 602 - openargs.com/oa602-new-east…
1/n
Prelim thoughts as ppl inevitably compare tonight to Mueller Report: 1) there's no Bill Barr systematic disinfo discrediting J6 in advance; 2) there's likely a strong bipartisan face in Liz Cheney & 3) J6 needs to make strong statement of crime up front - unlike Mueller /2
Time to go check the committee website to see which depositions are being released! #documents /3
Read 33 tweets
Mar 8
So, here's the summary: it may not look like it, but this is DEVASTATING for Eastman so far. Judge is going methodically through all the reasons why no atty-client relationship may exist AT ALL, which would enable him to skip the crime/fraud stuff AND would bulletproof .. /1 of x
..the opinion on appeal even from the hackiest of right-wing activists. Right now we have a tough set of questions pending for Chapman Univ regarding the fact that Eastman represented W in 2000 election litigation & was commended for it - that seems to contradict the arg now ../2
...that Eastman's rep of Trump would violate university policies. If Chapman U comes back with a good answer here - and it's hard to imagine they haven't thought through this - this could be over on no expectation of privacy. If they can't, THEN Judge Carter will look at ... /3
Read 4 tweets
Mar 8
This will be the formal live-tweeting of the @DrJohnEastman Privilege hearing with replies below. 111 documents at issue. Hearing begins with #Eastman lawyer trying to clean up issues that should be clear (i.e., was there attorney-client relationship with Trump)
#Eastman begins with argument that the 111 docs are all basically work product & the standard for wp waiver is higher than just bare communication - key case here is US v Sanmina, 968 F.3d 1107 scholar.google.com/scholar_case?c…
After wp doctrine, now we're getting into crime/fraud exception, which #Eastman notes is why we're all here
Read 102 tweets
Oct 9, 2021
Here is what I can tell about the DFEH/EEOC dustup over the settlement we discussed in Episode 530. Buckle up! /1 openargs.com/oa530-andrew-t…
Two days ago, the DFEH moved to intervene (and to shorten time for consideration of that motion) in the case in order to object to the settlement on the grounds that it was inequitable. So I went to see if the EEOC intends to object to that intervention... /2
Turns out: YES, the EEOC filed their objection yesterday, under seal, and for VERY different reasons than I suspected. The EEOC has argued that the two main California state DFEH lawyers were former EEOC lawyers... /3
Read 8 tweets
Jul 22, 2020
I think I've just caught the government lying in its brief opposing en banc reconsideration in the Flynn case. Their arg on p.15 is to a supposed 1996 amendment to FRAP 35(b) that DOES NOT EXIST. It DID NOT HAPPEN. (The FRAP 21(a) cite is also bogus.) Pls share; links follow.
The government's brief is available here -- turn to page 15 and see for yourself: documentcloud.org/documents/6998…

And FRAP 35 is available here -- you'll see there was no "1996 Note" because there was NO 1996 Amendment! law.cornell.edu/rules/frap/rul…
Also FRAP 21 doesn't say what they say it does. law.cornell.edu/rules/frap/rul…
Read 4 tweets

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